


Lingering Darkness

by PerfectlyImperfect42



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Torchwood: Golden Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 09:39:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10487817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectlyImperfect42/pseuds/PerfectlyImperfect42
Summary: A battle with shadows leaves a mark on Ianto.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a repost from Livejournal of my first ever Torchwood fic. This story is also the first fanfic I ever actually finished. For those who read the original, I changed the title for the reposting.
> 
> Thanks to [thrace_adams](http://thrace-adams.livejournal.com/), [buttononthetop](http://buttononthetop.livejournal.com/), and [madder_rose](http://madder-rose.livejournal.com/) for being awesome betas.

_ “The shadows are getting very close.” _  
__  
_ Gwen’s frightened voice draws Ianto’s attention away from his desperate attempts to somehow get through the door. Looking back he can see that she’s right. The energy net is slowly creeping towards them, its hooks searching. “We need to switch off the energy net. I don’t think we can stop it from in here,” he tells her, renewing his efforts against the door. _  
__  
_ “Ianto.” She seems to pause a second, her horror clear. “The shadows are on you!” _  
__  
_ As she says it, Ianto can feel something brushing against him. Glancing down at himself he can see a tendril of darkness wrapping around him, soon joined by others. He lets out a startled yell and gasps for breath as they tighten, leeching the heat from his body. “Stay back!” he yells as Gwen starts towards him. “So cold!” he unconsciously adds. Ianto can feel it seeping into him, freezing him to his core. It’s as if he’s being encased in ice. _  
__  
_ “Ianto, I can’t see you!” Gwen’s voice is full of panic as she shouts to him from far away. _  
  
Ianto can only scream for her as everything around him starts to go dark, the chill surrounding him joined by a numbness that is slowly disconnecting him from his body. With a final scream, everything goes black…   
  
Awaking with a start, Ianto gasps for air as he shivers with the remembered cold. All around him there is nothing but darkness and his mind panics, fearing that the energy net still has him.    
  
He can’t help jerking as a warm arm wraps around his waist, pulling him back to rest against a broad chest. Jack’s voice eventually reaches him through the haze in his mind, making soothing sounds and telling him that he’s safe, that everything will be alright.   
  
“Are you cold?” Jack gently asks, feeling Ianto tremble in his arms.   
  
The Welshman can only nod breathlessly, still shaken by his memories. He gives no resistance as Jack slowly turns him, bringing him to rest with his head on Jack’s shoulder as his lover enfolds them in the blankets before holding Ianto to him tightly.   
  
Jack places a kiss on the top of his head as they settle back into the bed. “Better?” His lover nods again, starting to relax for the first time since he woke. Jack lets the silence go for a moment before asking, “What was it?”   
  
For someone so young, Ianto has already suffered so much. This isn’t the first time he’s been woken by a nightmare. If it isn’t Canary Wharf, it’s the Brecon Beacons or one of the many other incidents he has experienced while working for Torchwood. Sometimes Jack wishes he could take it all away, retcon Ianto and give him a normal, happy life, without all the pain and suffering he’s gone through. But there is just so much to make him forget, Ianto has been with Torchwood too long. The dose required to erase it all would be exceptionally risky, and Jack just can’t take the chance of losing Ianto completely. The selfish part of him is glad that he can’t, happy to keep Ianto with him for as long as possible.   
  
“India,” Ianto answers him in a quiet voice, that one word still saying so much. They have only just returned and he is still recovering mentally from his near brush with death.   
  
The captain sighs, hugs the Welshman closer to him. “The energy net was destroyed. It won’t harm anyone else ever again. Try to get some more sleep, it’s almost morning.” He can hear Ianto getting ready to protest and cuts him off, “It’s alright, I’ll be right here.”   
  
In the dim light he can just make out Ianto tilting his head up to look at him for a moment before settling back against Jack’s chest with his ear right over his heart and an arm slung over his waist. Jack can’t help smiling as Ianto makes himself comfortable, his breathing slowly evening out as he finally drifts off. Jack lies there watching him sleep, just like he always does whenever he can. He knows Ianto does it too when he thinks Jack is asleep; he had caught him doing it but pretended to be resting anyway, just to see what he would do. Jack can never get over how young and defenseless Ianto looks when he is asleep, so different from the mature man with a wry wit that he knows in waking hours. He knows that one day he really will lose his lover, but until then he will keep him safe for as long as he can. With that last thought he allows himself to follow Ianto into a dreamless sleep, the kind he only has when the Welshman is wrapped safely in his arms.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S.: Come visit me on [Tumblr](http://spacecase42.tumblr.com/). Say hi. I may post about stories I'm working on.


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